I was on the Td Canada Trust website tonight and I spotted this cool new program. Basically everytime you use your debit or make a ATM withdrawl you can choose an amount to put in your savings anywhere from 50 cents to five bucks each transaction! Not only that but if you sign up before July 24th for every $100 dollars you save in the next year Td Canada Trust will give you an extra 10 smackers up to a maximum of $200!

I’ve seen this program on commercials in the USA for Chase bank and always thought it was pretty neat! I’m an avid debit card user and I signed up starting at $1 deposits each time I use my card. We already participate in pre- authorized transfers from our chequings to savings with Pc Financial but this just seems so much easier and less noticeable! Maybe I’ll need to shop more to save more hahaha! Wish me luck.

Just got back from the bank (TD is my bank) and set up account. It takes one business day to take effect and you can choose anywhere from 50cents to 5 dollars. Everyone at the bank was talking about how good this is!

thanks for posting this!! i have a TD account, and have not been able to save in years.. this would be a great excuse to start!! I don’t even care about the free $200 – I’m just so happy that programs like these are finally coming to Canada!!

want to be sure I’m getting this right… When I make a debit purchase I’m asked to transfer $ from my checkin to savings and when I do the bank pays me some $ (to my savings account) ontop of the $ I transferred? If I have a student account, I have to go in a change it to this other account? Is there some monthly fee?

I’ve had this feature at the Scotiabank since they first introduced it last summer, and I’ve already accumulated over $1000 (I use my debit card nearly exclusively, and I’m using the $5 roundup).
I plan on using the savings to buy a really extravagant gift (fantasy hockey camp) for my husband when he turns 50 in 2010. It is a painless way to save.
The $200 bonus from TD would have been nice though!

nat.. what happens is whenever you make a purchase with your checking account you automatically have some money transfered into your saving account. So say you buy food for $4 with your checking account, and you have it set up for .50 cents to go into your saving. you are actually spending 4.50, but that 50 is going into savings. For every $100 you are able to save in the next year Td will then give you an extra $10. You can keep your student account (thats what I have) and there is no monthly fee.

Remember you don’t actually have to buy anything, since it works for ABM withdrawals too, which are free from TD machines as long as your chequing account allows for unlimited transactions. So technically I guess you could keep withdrawing money and depositing it again to get your bonus.

so basically in order to get the free full $200, you have to save $2000. To save $2000, you have to do 400 transactions in one year at the $5.00 savings per transaction. That is at least one transaction everyday!! yikes!! If you signup to only save .50 per transaction, you will likely never get to the $2000 in one year, so will only get a portion of the $200. But anything free is good! Just be careful you have a bank plan that allows unlimited transactions, otherwise you could end up paying bank fees!

Triffk I agree, the key is to select the $5 saving per transaction.. remember that money just goes into your savings account, so you can always transfer it out whenever. If you pick the $5, 400 transactions in a year is pretty fair. If you use your debit card once a day and withdraw cash from an ATM once a week, that’s your 400.

@ Charles — you can’t transfer the money out “whenever”. For the TFSA account, you can’t replace the money until next year, and TD’s other savings accounts only allow you one or two transactions per month before they charge a lofty fee.

I might give it a try, but as I only get 10 transactions per month, I’m not convinced this is worth the hassle. I think it’s a clever marketing ploy to get people upgrade their accounts or make TD their main checking account instead of their other bank.

But I’m not going to argue with $10 on $100. Where else are you going to get that kind of immediate ROI?

I’m not going to panic about getting to the $200 mark (i only made it $1 a transaction), but it’s basically 10% additional money (on top of regular interest) in your savings account. NOTHING else will give you that.

Just signed up and plan on making the 400 transactions as soon as possible. Guys make sure you have an unlimitied transaction account so you don’t get taken. Also make sure you sign for the $5 a day to get the maximum ROI.

Basically the isnt giving away anything for free because every dollar that is going into ur saving acct, the bank is investing that money somewhere else and making their money…it is just smart marketing that the bank is doing….dont forget the bank never loses money or gives out free money

This is better that pre-authorized transfers.But this one is a little tricky though.It will want you to spend more just to get that 10 dollars every time you save 100 dollars.It will work out for me cause i use my debit card alot.If you are a person who doesnt use your debit card alot this would help you in any way.

does anyone know how long after you get the $10 savings into your account do they give you the $10??? or do you have to wait till the end of the year? and what if you save $100 in the savings, and then want to take it out? does anyone know, or should i ask the branch?
cheers

Nothing has to be surprised. $1 or 5 cents are just your money automatically transfer from your checking to saving account each time you use your card. All about your money. The more you shop, the more you spend…lolz